Suddenly, heat surged from within, and his soul vibrated intensely. Reyn quickly jumped to his feet, sensing the impending transformation.
Barely had the thought formed when an invisible energy storm swept through the room.
Reyn couldn't see these colossal energy flows—the runic table during the soul transformation ritual hadn't increased his affinity for the elements—but now he distinctly felt the energy surrounding him, placing him at the very center of the vortex.
He didn't know the nature of this energy or where it came from. It seemed it had always existed around him, like air—vital but usually imperceptible.
In that moment, Reyn turned into a magnet, disrupting the energy's calm state.
Turbulent flows rushed into his body, faster and faster. Obeying his soul force, they rapidly washed over every muscle, every bone, every cell. All of them greedily absorbed this energy, rebuilding his body from the inside.
Reyn experienced indescribable pleasure and involuntarily groaned.
On the Soul World Tree, the three solitary leaves glimmered with golden light; the element runes on them grew sharper, and the tree itself slowly grew.
Click! Crack! Click...
A quiet crackle sounded from within. Reyn felt his skin itch, a light stinging pain run through his entire body, and then he noticed that... he seemed to be getting taller!
And not just taller—his figure became stronger and more muscular!
The process lasted about half an hour. Finally, the influx of energy stopped, and the invisible storm subsided.
Reyn exhaled and examined his changed, somewhat unfamiliar body.
There was a full-length mirror in the room. He hurried over to it and, seeing himself, nearly gaped in surprise. His eyes shone with joy.
Overall, his reflection wasn't much different from before; he hadn't turned into an unrecognizable monster—he was still just as handsome and attractive!
The main change was that he had grown taller and stronger. The shirt that had fit perfectly before now clung to him, nearly bursting at the seams from the strain of his muscles. His pants had turned into capris, and his shoes were too small and pinched badly.
Reyn had already been nearly six feet tall, just a bit slender. Now he had stretched almost four inches taller, his shoulders broadened, but he didn't look bulky at all. Every muscle in his body seemed forged from steel, his shoulders wider, his posture more confident. The overall lines of his musculature were incredibly harmonious, like the result of years of training, exuding the impression of aesthetically perfect power.
Moreover, his skin had become a bit darker and, if you looked closely, acquired a matte sheen with a faint metallic luster, though it didn't look unnatural.
Reyn sighed in relief.
He had been a little afraid of turning into an overpumped brute, but fortunately, that hadn't happened. The current changes were just right.
What he liked most was that his facial features had become more masculine, losing their excessive refinement, now better matching his aesthetic preferences.
Of course, these were just external manifestations. The internal changes were far more important.
Reyn easily clenched his fist, feeling power bursting at the seams, as if a wild beast lurked inside him, capable of defeating any enemy with his bare fists.
Without testing, he couldn't precisely gauge how strong he'd become, but by feel, his power had increased at least four or five times. Lifting a two-thousand-pound load would now be no trouble at all!
"This is what the enhanced 'Strength' element means," Reyn thought in admiration.
Strength was impressive, but defense was even stronger.
He pressed on his own forearm. The soft skin under his fingers instantly hardened like iron. His pressing fingers also hardened, but it didn't hinder movement at all. When he pressed harder, his arm and fingers clashed with a dull sound, like two pieces of steel striking each other.
Reyn studied his body for a while and figured out its new properties.
"Steel Body" was a constant state. His body had completely restructured. In a normal state, he looked like an ordinary person, but upon physical impact, his flesh instantly became as hard as steel. If he deliberately activated the element, the hardness increased even more, but speed decreased, and it required constant soul force expenditure.
He tried activating "Steel Body" at full power. His skin turned dark gray, almost black; his entire body seemed cast from pig iron. His steps became heavy, movements stiff, and soul force drained very quickly.
In this state of full defense, with his current soul force reserve, he could last about five minutes.
But that was already enough.
Reyn was very pleased with the effect. "A super-unique element is indeed powerful," he thought. "A first-level superhuman would have a very hard time breaking through such steel defense."
"Now I'm a real Iron Man!"
He happily stroked his arm when he suddenly remembered the other element—"Metallic Touch." Quickly discovering it didn't provide a noticeable strength boost yet, he decided to set it aside for now.
Additionally, Reyn noticed that after merging with the Golden Poison Ant's demonic soul, the charge level had risen a bit, but only by two notches!
"And that's it?"
Reyn pondered, then realized something was off. "Can one Golden Poison Ant give that much charge?"
His soul force had increased tenfold. Two notches of charge now equaled twenty percent by old standards. Previously, absorbing an ordinary person's soul gave eight percent. The ratio clearly didn't add up.
An ordinary person's soul was definitely stronger than a Golden Poison Ant's. Two or three ants' souls hardly equaled one fallen's, but the charge gained differed greatly—the ant gave far more soul force.
Maybe it was due to different soul absorption methods?
One was full merge, the other direct absorption. Were their "charging" efficiencies different?
Reyn assumed merge was the better way. It gave more soul force, greatly increased its volume, and allowed gaining elements. Direct soul absorption was inefficient: it was like roughly pulverizing the soul, sucking in all elements indiscriminately like swallowing whole, with most soul force lost in the process.
By his rough calculations, absorbing the same soul by two different methods yielded nearly ten times the difference in soul force gained!
"That's way too inefficient."
Reyn was very annoyed. At this rate, to fully charge his "battery" now, he'd need to absorb souls of at least hundreds of ordinary people or over thirty superhumans!
"If I really kill that many, it'd be pure madness."
He shook his head mentally.
Even if soul absorption efficiency was so low, it was still much faster than building soul force through meditation or magic potions.
This was the shortest path to the world's peaks. A person with weak will probably couldn't resist such temptation and would sooner or later turn into a bloodthirsty maniac, slaughtering innocents indiscriminately.
Reyn mentally warned himself: he needed to firmly hold to his principles and never stray onto the dark path.
He came to his senses and thought:
"From this moment, I'm a mage. A first-level combat mage."
Reyn adjusted his clothes, which now barely held on him but at least hadn't torn, and left the room. Walking down the corridor, he returned to Viola's office, intending to say goodbye.
He knocked and entered. Viola, seeing him, immediately noticed the changes.
"Reyn, did you merge with the demonic soul so quickly?" She stood up and eyed his figure closely, as if admiring an exquisite work of art. Mischievous sparks danced in her eyes.
"Yes, now I'm a combat mage," Reyn didn't hide it. Such drastic changes couldn't be concealed anyway, and he wanted to share his joy. "It's all thanks to your help. I'll try to repay the debt as soon as possible," he added happily.
"Congratulations on joining the ranks of mages," said Viola.
She wondered inwardly which demonic soul Reyn had merged with to achieve such changes, and with a smile said:
"Don't rush the repayment, follow the contract."
Reyn nodded silently, keeping his gratitude in his heart.
He took the contract and was about to take his leave when Viola suddenly asked with a charming smile:
"Reyn, are you free the evening after tomorrow?"
Reyn looked at the half-elf's enchanting smile, and his heart fluttered for a moment.
"No plans yet," he replied.
He couldn't resist and, activating Soul Eye, secretly glanced at Viola. Her aura shimmered in yellow-orange tones, indicating hidden anticipation and slight excitement. She was far from as composed as she tried to appear.
Viola said casually:
"The evening after tomorrow, the Violet House is hosting a small trade gathering. Participants are exclusively superhumans. If you're interested, you can come; I'll introduce you to some friends."
Reyn immediately understood her intent: she wanted to bring him into her social circle. As a mage, owner of the Violet House, and with mysterious origins, Viola naturally moved in circles different from ordinary people. Those honored to associate with her were either nobility or superhumans—undoubtedly, Lunshan's upper echelons. Joining such a circle could greatly aid his future development.
Of course, Reyn had no intention of refusing Viola's kind offer, but he was a bit puzzled: why was she so concerned about him? Even if she wanted to befriend him, it seemed a bit hasty.
Considering Viola's true emotions at that moment, Reyn suddenly felt a slight dizziness from the flattering thought:
"Am I really that handsome that even such a peerless beauty couldn't resist?"
He decided to test her a bit and agreed:
"Alright, I'll definitely come. But I have no experience with such gatherings; I don't know the rules or etiquette. I'm afraid I might do something stupid."
"Don't worry, I'll help you," Viola's eyes sparkled with amusement; she seemed very glad at his agreement. "Come half a day early, and then follow my instructions."
"Then I won't trouble you."
Seeing her such obvious initiative and sincerity, Reyn felt uplifted too.
What man doesn't like beautiful women? Especially such stunning beauties!
Reyn couldn't determine Viola's age. The half-elf looked like a twenty-year-old beauty but possessed the mature charm of a thirty-year-old woman. Her manners were full of nobility and grace, her figure perfect and seductive, and a touch of exotic allure made her the embodiment of any man's dream, an ideal lover!
Her true age might be much older, but that didn't bother Reyn at all. If the chance arose to enjoy her company and gain support from such an influential figure, he'd endure even accusations of being a gigolo living off women!
"To eat soft rice, you need talent too—some want to but can't!" he thought.
Reyn inwardly rejoiced, his mind racing with seduction tricks, but his face remained composed. After bidding Viola farewell, he left the Violet House feeling like he'd entered another world.